Forum

What can you do about ⊗⊗⊗⊗ GOLD/Silver being sold as REAL at the mall,etc?
 

Word around town Is that a lot of jewelry stands that you come across In malls across the United States, probably other countries as well sells ⊗⊗⊗⊗ Gold & Silver as the real thing. You know those little jewelry stands you see with foreign people selling at kiosk's?

My question Is If they tell me whatever I'm buying Is real, and it turns out to be ⊗⊗⊗⊗ after purchased, what can I do about it? Do I call the police, or what? They say all says are FINAL.

Best advice is to buy precious metals ONLY from a reputible dealer.

Buying from those kiosks in like buying on eBay. Yes, you MIGHT get the real thing, but who knows?

What can the police really do? Not much. You say they sold you phake gold. They say you switched it out and tried to scam them by returning a phake. Or, they say it was NOT sold as solid gold, it was sold as faux gold, gold-plated, gold-filled, gold-layered, etc. If they get enough complaints, they can probably close them down, but don't expect to see the owner being led away in handcuffs.

Even with seemingly reputable dealers, you can get ripped off. Years after my parents died, I had to have my mother's wedding ring re-appraised for insurance purposes. I had the original appraisal. It said the ring was worth $1200 in 1964. The appraiser who looked at it said that the diamond WAS a real diamond, and that every diamond has value, but the cut was poor and the clarity was not very good either. In 2001, it was worth maybe $300. I showed him the old appraisal and he said it was a blatant lie. He said the ring described in the appraisal would have been worth about $5,000.

Unless you know how to tell real gold and gems from ⊗⊗⊗⊗ gold and gems, I would stay far away from them. Coins are coming out of China that are a thin layer of gold covering a base of tungsten and even experts have a hard time telling them apart unless they cut the coins.

Wow, they bother to use tungsten, one of the harder metal to work with and way less dense than gold. I would think lead would be the base metal of choice.

As of right now a lot of jewelers have Genuine Yellow Gold, Rose Gold, and Black Gold plated over solid pure .925 Sterling Silver Necklaces, Chains, and Pendants. They look exactly the same as the real thing, and are available at affordable prices. Some of the Chains even have diamond cuts, and the pendants are 2 toned. They are very nice, but what I don't like Is that some jewelers are sneaky, and are selling these as the real thing. People will purchase these items, and never know that it's a ⊗⊗⊗⊗, so now they've wasted $1,000 on a chain that's suppose to only cost around $100-$250.

You can tell Gold Is REAL by using a Magnet. Since Gold is not magnetic it won't stick to the magnet, but if it does stick that means the Gold isn't real, and that it is plated over some other metal, so I'll be testing this at jewelry stores, and stands. They shouldn't get upset If their items are 100% Authentic, and shouldn't have anything to hide. If they get upset, or don't allow it then they've just lost a customer, and definitely have something to hide.

That Is horrible. I am sorry to hear that. As of right now I hear It Isn't a good Idea to purchase Diamonds, because they aren't increasing In value, and that half, if not way more than half of the jewelry stores are selling their diamond jewelry 3 times higher than what It's actually really worth. It's like purchasing a car, once bought it loses value IMMEDIATELY, so I go for solid pure Gold & Silver with no diamonds attached to them. People might say this is a bad idea, but I see it as security just in case we ever go into hyperflation.

if you want real .9999 gold or 24kt gold, then just go to any asian shopping center that has a jewlry store there....real gold will have a different color then the ones that are gold plated.

Many years ago (too many to mention) I worked in the City of London. Do not buy gold EVER unless you are sure of where you are buying it. Do not buy 24ct unless it is from a bank with a .9999 and has a serial number. Asians sell 22ct NOT 24, 24ct is too soft to be useful. I worked for Johnson Mathey

they have both 22kt and 24 kt. if your buying necklace, i recommend 22kt, because yes, 24kt is too soft.

but i get a couple of ingots every now and then, and yes, it does have serial number.
and i'm able to take that ingot to any asian jewelry store to resale

Question, just out of curiosity...

Why do you specify an Asian jewelry store? Do they have a different way of doing business?

just from personal experience, you don't have to worry about getting ripped off

I've heard that there are portable handheld x-ray machines now that you can use to determine the composition of the coin for sure without having to cut it, but they're still pretty expensive though.

It was something I heard about vaguely from this guy at work, but I'm pretty sure this is what he was talking about. For a sufficiently reliable model, you'll still have to shell out over 10K no matter what. :brick:

Low-Cost Gold Testing Equipment - Quickshot XRF Gold Tester

Well from my experience you can get better deals from Indians, and Asians at jewelry stands than actual jewelry stores. If you turn down their offer SOME will go even lower until you can't say no. Jewelry stores like Jared, Alberts, Ross, you name it sells their jewelry for 2-3 times more than what it's worth, and if you can't afford it they offer layaway, but make you put a certain percentage down, others let you put whatever you want down basically, and will hold it for up to 6 months. If you talk to them, they will hold it even longer. Some will say these high end jewelry stores are expensive because of their quality and NAME, well trust me when I tell you that foreigners can get these same diamonds, and gold for a way cheaper price. They have helped me make profits for the last 2 years on casual to hip hop jewelry to custom pendants with diamonds.